Oh yes, we at Breaking D are delving into a murky realm that is not usually covered by defense publications: semantics and etymology, the study of the meaning and the origin of words and phrases including idioms.

In April 2018 the government hit a high point of 725,000 delayed clearances. Today, the number has dipped below 360,000. In May, we reported that would-be federal employees and defense contractors waited an average of 221 days for a Secret clearance and 534 days for a Top Secret clearance.

Can artificial intelligence, machine learning, and agile development help clear the massive backlog?

The famously hoodie-clad founder of the Defense Digital Service defends his legacy as he prepares to hand over the helm.

“I just had a general who came to my office,” said Chris Lynch, head of DoD’s internal hoodie-wearing geek squad, the Defense Digital Service. “The problem was the entire mission was being run out of Excel.”

It ain’t sexy, but the massive backlog of 730,000 clearance investigations is costing companies money, the Intelligence Community good people and causing headaches for everyone.
The redoubtable Sue Gordon, principal deputy Director of National Intelligence, told some 3,000 intelligence professionals today that “this year we’ll do really great work on reducing the backlog.”